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Reign of Christ Sunday

Colossians 1
11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully
12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.


To mark the fourth anniversary of the congregation, I decided research was needed. Opening my trusty web browser, I googled the question “what are four year-olds like?” Here are a few things I found out:

Four year-olds take turns and share (most of the time), but may still be rather bossy; they are fearful of the dark and monsters; they throw tantrums over minor frustrations; they may have difficulty separating make-believe from reality; they like to shock others by using "forbidden" words.

I think you get the picture. Not satisfied, I found this:

Four-year-olds feel good about the things they can do, show self-confidence, and are willing to try new adventures.*

So, the development specialists have spoken, and all that is left is to congratulate you on four years of hard work, dedication, and a willingness to try new adventures.

Looking over the amalgamation checklist, the congregation has been busy: quickly integrating two congregations; developing a sense of common identity; ensuring that everyone makes sacrifices; developing a new mission focus; and renewing the physical space for accessibility and community use.

Recognizing that pride is one of the seven deadly sins, we will set that aside for a minute and feel proud that so much has happened in four short years. We give thanks for volunteers, and hundreds of hours spent reinventing this church. And we give thanks for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, encouraging us, leading us forward, and casting a vision for our life together.

***

Anniversaries, like birthdays and special events, are often met with cards and letters. Even in our new era of emails, ecards and evites, special moments bring special greetings and expressions of care. The desire to reach out is eternal, whether sent electronically, with a stamp, or on papyrus.

For St. Paul, the New Testament’s most prolific letter writer, the reasons for writing were similar to our own. He would write to congratulate people, to encourage them, or to register concern. He would write to mark an important moment in the life of a congregation, or highlight something he had heard.

The key difference between the letters we may have written in our lifetime and the letters of Paul, is that Paul’s became scripture. His letters, addressed to a specific congregations, were in turn circulated, becoming advice to all the churches. The letters became such valuable tools for teaching and inspiration, that eventually they became part of the bible.

Writing with his own hand, or with the help of a scribe, Paul wrote with precision, trying to convey the message each church needed to hear. In many ways, he is inventing the Christian church: drawing on his own sense of Jesus, his knowledge of the Hebrew Bible, and his years of human experience. He includes anecdotes, a little classical philosophy, and fragments of ancient hymns. We heard a one today:

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created,
things visible and invisible.

We’ve lost the tune, meter and all the rhyming, but the poetic language remains.

***

Back to Paul’s theme of “advice to churches,” our little passage from Colossians is overflowing. If the task was to draw out the heart of this advice, I think it would fall into three parts.

The first advice is to be a community of forgiveness. Paul writes:

God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Soon, we will enter Advent, and we will hear from our friend John the Baptist, preaching a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. On one level, these ideas seem outmoded or overly focused on what is wrong rather than what is right. But Paul believed that forgiveness is foundational to every human relationship. Without forgiveness, Paul might well have remained Saul, unable to enter the church as a redeemed sinner, unable to leave his mark on all we do. His entry required forgiveness, and the openness of the early church to look beyond his past as a persecutor of the church and imagine him as a friend of the church. It took courage. Forgiveness is oxygen to any congregation that seeks to move forward together.

The second piece of advice concerns another word we don’t often hear anymore: headship. Paul writes:

[Christ Jesus] himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church.

Congregations must know who they are and to whom they belong. With Christ as the head of this church, we are relieved of the sense that we have to “get it right” or find our own way. To be a disciple means to follow, and to be a congregation means to live with Christ, the head of the church. A sense of “ownership” is a double-edged sword: a high sense of ownership can mean greater commitment, but it can also produce rival visions, as different “owners” clash on the direction of the church. Instead, we are told to accept Christ as the head of the church and learn together how to follow.

The final advice could be called “look for incarnation everywhere.” Paul writes:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

We are fast approaching a season of preparation, a season dedicated to coming incarnation, God’s desire to enter our world in a new way. Congregations participate in this by looking for signs: how is God seeking to enter our world once more? Where, or on whom can we see the face of Christ? We see the face of Christ in those who suffer, those who enter our door in great need. We care for them, we pray for them, we feed them. We see cross-shaped suffering in hunger, in illness, and in grief.

Yet God is waiting. Waiting to enter our world and speak to this need in person. To walk among us and feel all we feel, and to know first hand the joy and sorrow of being human. God speaks a word of hope, encourages us in prayer, gives us voice to speak to every situation.

May God speak to us this day, Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, working in us an others by the Spirit. Amen.


*http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/ages.stages.4y.html

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 3:44 AM